Governor Patrick failed to release $100m. of appropriated road repair monies this fiscal year, as he did last fiscal year also, because the legislature failed to appropriate as much as he wanted for the transportation budget. Governor Baker released those monies on his first day in office.
GOV. BAKER WILL RELEASE $100 MIL IN LOCAL ROAD FUNDS
By Matt Murphy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JAN. 8, 2014…..Gov. Charlie Baker will make good on a campaign promise Thursday afternoon by making his first official action as governor to release $100 million for local road and bridge repairs.
The funding, which had been authorized by the Legislature but withheld by former Gov. Deval Patrick, will be dispersed to cities and towns to pay for local infrastructure projects.
Patrick released $200 million for Chapter 90 last year, but held back the additional funding because he said the borrowing capacity was needed for other transportation priorities.
Lawmakers were highly critical of Patrick’s decision not to release the funding, and Baker during the campaign pledged to release the funding as soon as he took office.
During his inaugural address, Baker on Thursday said he hoped to address a “spending problem” in state government to address a midyear budget gap that he estimated at more than $500 million.
Baker, who supported a November ballot law that unhinged the gas tax from an inflation index, said during his address that he would hold the line on taxes but that everything else was on the table in the upcoming budget-balancing exercise.
The governor must file a fiscal 2016 spending plan by March 4, though a proposal to address the midyear gap could be rolled out before that date.
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